THE 



SABDEil SyiDEa 



April, 1863. 



GESIs^ERA, GLOXINIA, AND ACHIMENES. 



E were about to open this paper with a few words 

 of appropriate eulogium on the exquisite beauty of 



these flowers, when those celebrated lines from King 



John occurred to us : — 



" To gild refined gold, to paint the lilj, 

 To throw a perfume on the violet, 

 To smooth the ice, or add another hue 

 Unto the rainbow, or with taper light 

 To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, 

 Is wasteful and ridiculous excess." 



^ We will, therefore, withhold our hand from any attempt to 



picture the beauties of these charming plants, and so gain the space that 

 mio-ht be wasted in supertluous praises for practical directions for their 

 culture. We the more gladly seize the present opportunity of treating 

 upon this subject, because it is quite time that these flowers were popu- 

 larized, instead of being — as they have been so long — exclusively enjoyed 

 by the possessors of stoves and the usual costly appliances for high culture. 

 Let it be fully understood that the possessor of a greenhouse, or even of a 

 frame, may send his dozen or more Achimenes, Gesneras, or Gloxinias to 

 a flower-show, and the culture of these plants will be extended inde- 

 finitely, and the Elokal World will have added to the number of its 

 successes, and secured afresh the thanks of its myriad supporters. There 

 is positively no difficulty whatever in growing any of these three favour- 

 ites of the stove by what we are accustomed to call " makeshift" methods, 

 and the best way, perhaps, to prepare the novice for the venture will be 

 to describe briefly the routine followed for their culture in the stove. 



Stove T]!,e.\.tmext or Gesxera. and Gloxinia. — 'The bulbs are potted 

 singly in successional batches from the end of November to the end of 

 March, but the most important batches are those put in in January and 

 February, as these come into bloom when their flowers are most needed, 



VOL. VI. NO. IV. E 



